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HIE DANGERS OF THE TEMPERANCE " CAUSE." ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Co-Operative Movement Ii. " Men That...
too ignorant either of what individual agency in its best form , or Socialism in its best form , can accomp lish , to be qualified to decide which of the two will be the ultimate form of human society . " Co-operative Association ( the co-partnership of working cap italists , for the purpose of self-employment ) , or concert in the direction of labour and the division of produce , is by no means incompatible with , or hostile to , individual freedom or the right of private possession ; and when properly understood and applied , it becomes a friendly and auxiliary power . The problem to be solved by means of Co-operation is this , — Whether it be possible to obtain the efficiency and economy of production on a large scale , and to adjust the proportional distribution of
produce , without dividing the producers—the emp loyers and the employed—into two hostile parties , with apparently conflicting interests ; the rates of the wages of labour being adjusted in a spirit of reckless and bitter antagonism P The perfect solution of the problem implies , that the associate , while preserving the greatest possible amount of individual freedom , shall secure all the social advantages of union . There are two objections frequently made to the co-operative system ; first , that men would endeavour to evade their fair share of labour ; and secondl y , that they would work less when they work for themselves than when they work for others .
In answer to the first objection it has been wittily remarked , that there is a kind of work , hitherto more indispensable than most others , that of fighting , which is never conducted on any other than the co-operative system ; and neither in a rude nor civilized society has the supposed difficulty been experienced . To the second objection I repl y , that as the work done by freemen is in the end cheaper than that performed by slaves , so the work executed by self-employing associates , even at a higher rate of remuneration , is more productive and profitable
than the labour of hired workmen , who have no other interest in the enterprise than to fulfil their contract and to earn their wages . The liberal reward of labour , as it is the effect of increasing wealth , so it is a cause of the increase of population ; and to complain of such a result would be to lament over the necessary cause and effect of the greatest public prosperity . But , in my opinion , the improvement—moral and social as well as physical , in the condition of the working classes , will be the most important result of the practical application of the principle of Self-Empl oyment .
In another letter I shall endeavour , briefly , to trace the history of modern Socialism . I remain yours faithfully , William Coningham . Kemp Town , August Gth .
Ar01504
Hie Dangers Of The Temperance " Cause." ...
HIE DANGERS OF THE TEMPERANCE " CAUSE . " Ih not Truth stronger than Error ?—then how is it that Error so often prevails , and Truth is so often an alien ? Is not Truth omnipotent ?—then how is it that it i . s so often ' defeated ? Js not Truth immortal ? —then bow is it that it bus so often perished ? Is not Truth tbe most beautiful of things V—then bow is it fli . it it , id so often disliked ? Is it not the most valuable of possessions V—then how is it that it is so commonly despised anel its friends persecuted ? Ask the enthusiast . The secret dwells with him : _iW in two or three letters , we uuiy be ablo to show .
1 heory is comparatively useless , unless practice applies it to life . Science is a sealed casket , unless you _hiive the Art , which liberates tho gem , and wears it . In a very old book , in black letter and jaundiced leaves , ( that is if y , ) u ] lim . _,-t \ uml \ tho edition now beforo me , ) you may road u Spanish proverb of great _shrewdness , which might often be _related with profit on both sales tho Atlantic , — namely , tbat " Knowledge _it" » 'U may ho an evil unless good sense take care of it . " mw much more true this may bo of zeal—which runs * ., — - _¦ - — ~ _« -- »• _' -- ¦•• j » _" _- _< _" » -vi in / vviu _^ u i in in _nUier
anel thither , doing eif her good or mischief , never _enijiuniig which , so long as you applaud iU activity . * lo w else cun you account for the failure of so many _excolU-nt , movements ? Some reformations , now _hm-Kiiisliin _^ ollt u .., i ,. lftst h () UrH > > u . j in tiK , 1 I 1 Ht , lvCrt _) m ml miiablo , that they have required an unusual dogreo of "lent , and i > orseveninco , on the ; part of their advocates ¦ o kill _fliiiin . The temperance movement would now ' « half as strong again , had its friends been only half _»« earnest . You admire their enthusiasm , and deplore ¦» _elects . They hUVe converted the name of tho "nest , virtue of temperance into that disagreeable designation " _teototidisni . " - Moderation , " says Bishop
Hie Dangers Of The Temperance " Cause." ...
Hall , with a simile certainly difficult to explain— " Moderation , " says the Bishop , prettily , " is the silken string running through the pearl chain of all our virtues . " Moderation , by our Temperance teachers , is described in the extremest of language , and hy the grimmest of figures . It is in their most forbearing and tolerant mood that they liken it only to " an inclined plane , polished as marble , and slippery as ice , upon which , if the foot be once placed , you inevitably glide down to perdition . " This is false , as a rule , —it
may be false in nine cases out of ten , in nineteen out of twenty , but the user of the simile will cling to it all the same for that . The temperance societies were called upon to subscribe a testimonial to Mr . George Cruikshank , in reward for that extraordinary series of designs entitled the " Bottle , " which commenced with the delineation of a respectable artisaa pouring out a glass of wine for his young wife , after dinner : —a glass represented as the first step on the aforesaid " inclined plane . " The " perdition , " you may be sure , is provided for in the end . The infamous moral of this series of
designs is , that the man comes to kill his wife ; he dies himself in a mad-house ; his daughter finds her way to the brothel , and his son to the hulks . And you are gravely requested to believe , or submit to be told , that this will be the end of every family , where a glass of wine is conscientiously poured out at the table between husband and wife . The consequence is that thousands of families , disgusted at this intolerant and calumnious advocacy , turn away from the noble cause of Temperance , to which , otherwise , they would lend useful countenance and valuable support . We have lately seen the Reverend Mr . Gale , of Birmingham , outrage
an audience of ladies and clergymen by proposing that every missionary should sign the pledge , or something to that suspicious effect . We have no sympathy with the rudeness with which Mr . Gale was treated by Mr . Beilby , who knocked his spectacles off , but we can very well understand how a body of educated gentlemen might well feel outraged , at this gratuitous imputation put upon their powers of self-conduct . In another series of engravings , the " teetotaller" will show you that Moderation is the transition step to destitution , and , vice versd , that if you abstain entirely , instead of being " moderate , " you are " certain sure" to have a parlour , a parrot , a side-board , and a fortune . It is
this intemperate extravagance that brings the honest dogma of temperance into contempt . You know that thousands of gentlemen throughout our land every day set beforo their guests the moat agreeable varieties of wines , without caring to taste them themselves . You know that thousands of gentlemen who have wellstocked cellars never wero inebriated , and never will be . You know that thousands of people are hopelessly poor , and rigidly temperate at the same time j and you despise the taetics which impute to every man the incapacity of self-control , and pretend that intemperance is the solo cause of distress : which ignore the other thousand evils and oppressions to which civilized flesh is heir—each in its turn a cause of social destitution .
The politician who ascribes all human evil to " class legislation" —the social reformer who ascribes it all to " competition "—the orator of the tub in the neighbourhood of Bethel , who ascribes it all to the non-acceptance of the last new creed he has adopted , we i > ass by , by common consent , as ill-informed fanatics . But this kind of doctrine on Temperance platforms , or in teetotal publications , is applauded as the essence of non-alcoholic philanthropy . Influential friends of rational temperance among tbe people , bave often asked why . tho Leader did not join tbis advocacy in a formal manner . Our answer has always been , that to advocate
Temperance in the usual way was to bring it into further contempt . To advocate it as we should think rationally , would lie to expose ourselves to certain harshness of imputation . If wo said ono word in favour of a rational temperance , ( if such a conjunction of phrase , now made necessary , can bo allowed ) we should very likely be met by an accusation of being tho apologists of intoxication . Such being the courtesy with which any approximate advocacy is commonly met . If a man is ahsolutely a drunkard , he will find himself the object of sympathy and kind attentions on tho part of innumerable teetotal orators , and tract distributors—but if bo is simply a sensible , virtuous man , who avoids all
excess , and is master of Ids own impulses , he will bo sure to lie denounced by a hundred tongues and pens us the cause of all tbe drunkenness , vice , crime , and murder in the world . Your moderate man is tho object of tho special and unrelenting antipathy of your teetotaller . Just as the politician of " six-points" hates the man of " four" more than ho hates tho Tory who will refuse him even one—just its the bigot hates the Uatiemalist ( who would purify his religion ) moro than ho hates tho fat _corruptionists who will destroy it—so tho teetotaller abhors tho friend who sheds a manly charm over a salutary dogma . Touching tho Birmingham meeting to which referonco has been made , Mr . George Dawson
Hie Dangers Of The Temperance " Cause." ...
alluding to Mr . Gale ' s display , said , with that quaint courage for which Mr . Dawson is remarkable , that " he had tried teetotalism for several years , and now he was giving the other thing a turn . ' We have been looking in the print-sellers windows ever since , expecting to see another series of plates by Mr . Cruikshank , in which the celebrated young preacher of St . Saviour ' s will be traced through well-marked declensions down to abject destitution , if not to a more significant end . Such are the immoralities of advocacy which disfigure a cause , that might , by wiser management , gather unto itself the widest honour , as it might be the fruitful source of rational blessings .
It were too long to descant on the thousand ways in which incurable hostilities are raised up against this question . It is an old trick of the politician and the theologian to infer what ihey suppose will be the consequences of any given theory , and to charge those inferences as facts upon their opponents , and to declare that they intend all the crimes imputed to them . On this principle licensed victuallers are denounced by the thousands as criminals and murderers . Upon the same principle the vegetarian denounces the butcher—the hydropath the druggist—the homoeopath the allopath —and upon the same principle everybody might denounce everybody else . The wiser course would surely be to trace the consequences of a given habit to its own residts and trust to that for reformation—at
the same time carefully allowing for difference of opinion , carefully respecting conscientious conclusions the opposite of our own . Your modern temperance apostle will have none of this precaution . He seems to think moderation of manner as criminal as moderation in alcohol . He perhaps does not say right out that he is infallible , but he acts as though he were , and he refuses to believe that any one can have reasons for pursuing a conduct the reverse of his own . Dr . Frederick Lees , the philosopher of the Teetotal ranks , may be excepted from this classification , but it is difficult to recal any other name , which commands public respect , as associated with this species of
consideration . An eminent London writer lately found himself in the provinces engaged to lecture . After the lecture , he asked to be directed to some establishment where hospitality could be purchased at least for money , as it may at any Inn in the kingdom . He was directed to a Temperance Hotel , where he asked , being fatigued , for a glass of wine . He was told rudely that he could have nothing of the sort there . " But it is _necessai-y for me , " was tbe reply . " No matter . I do not believe in the necessity . It is not necessary to me and I cannot supply it to a customer . I would not supply it to my friend or my own father , " answered the conscientious and
discourteous hotel-keeper . " Is this civil philosophy of thy invention , my friend ?" said the indignant visitor . " It is my rule , and it is also the custom approved by tho Temperance Society to which I belong . They would exclude mo if I supplied wine in my house . " " Why even Dr . Carpenter , in the essay lying there ( said the lecturer , pointing to a volume before h ' nn ) for writing which your Society gave a prize , would teach you that under the circumstances of fatigue , just now my own , a glass of wine would be salutary . " " The rule of our society forbids it unless a medical man has ordered it , " was tho tart response .
" Is it come to this in a civilized town in England that a man must live on the sufferance of every accidental keeper of a jiop-shop—and drink the detestable coihpounds which a Teetotal Hotel may supply or go without ; or , what is as humiliating , condescend to plead the order of his physician for bis least act of diet ?" exclaimed the incensed metropolitan . " We believe alcoholic drinks to bo poison , and therefore we cannot conscientiously supply them , " replied the Puritan of this Ginger-beer Church .
" Who made you the authority which determines what is poison to me ? By what right do you dictate to me what 1 shall exist upon ?" " We should apply tho same rule in a private house , " answered Lemonade . " Do you mean that your brethren would refuse me , on a friendly visit , that food or beverage which f found most suitable for myself ?" " O yes , we should , " wiw the assurance of this dealer in cordials that make you sick .
" Would you , " rejoined an alcholic colloquist , " carry the insolence of your temperance so far ? What would you say if you were subjected to the same oflensivo rulo in life ? " Yon visit a Vegetarian friend _exacting a wholesome mutton chop , which you could conscientiously cat . He tells you mutton is poison , he calks you a cannibal , and sets before you , as at Hum-common , an unboiled cabbnge or raw carrot * .. You visit a . Hydropath in winter , and he insists upon your _unmuflliiig yourself , and letting tbe cold air brace you as it braces himaolf . He cannot conscientiously suffer you
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 14, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14081852/page/15/
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